Research Interests:

In general, my scientific interests are
related with the evolutionary biology of microbes.More concretely, this interest is focused in
the study, within the framework of Populations Genetics, of the mechanisms that
generate and maintain the genetic variability of RNA viruses.The model systems that we use now for our
experiments are the RNA viruses Tobacco
etch potyvirus (TEV) and Turnip
mosaic potyvirus (TuMV), the para-retrovirus Cauliflower mosaic caulimovirus (CaMV), and the viroids.I
have also been exploring the endless potential of digital organisms as model
systems for evolutionary studies.And
finally, to avoid missing the wave of Systems Biology we are now developing in silico and mathematical hierarchical
models of the entire viral infectious cycle.

Among
the projects that we are currently working on, I would like to highlight the
following:

Effect of the
accumulation of deleterious mutations in TEV fitness on its natural hosts
Nicotiana tabacum.Characterization of the level of
epistasis among deleterious mutations both, within and among genes.

Statistical
characterization of the distribution of mutational effects on TEV fitness
and virulence on tobacco.Characterization of the molecular basis of differences in
virulence.Correlation between
viral replicative fitness and virulence.Evolution of virulence under multiple-infections dynamics and
vector-mediated transmission.

Characterization
of adaptive dynamics of TEV to new hosts (Arabidopsis thaliana and
Capsicum annuum).Host range
and evolutionary correlated response to new hosts.Tradeoffs in simultaneous adaptation to
different hosts.How does the
pattern of plant gene expression changes as a consequence of viral
adaptation?

Experimental
test of the model of clonal interference among beneficial mutations
(TEV).Molecular characterization
of beneficial mutations fixed at successive adaptive steps and its effect
on the rate of adaptation.

Evolutionary
significance of genome segmentation.

Evolution of
mechanisms of genetic robustness in highly mutable RNA genomes
(TEV).The role of population size
and mutation rate in the evolution of genetic robustness.Genetic robustness as a correlated
response to environmental robustness.Neutral networks and the evolution of robustness in viroid
species.

The
suppression of post-transcriptional gene silencing as a viral
evolutionary strategy to overcome plant defences.Characterization of mutational effects
on the suppressor protein (HC-Pro) of TEV.Compensatory evolution of suppression
function and genetic architecture of the trait.Molecular evolution of viral suppressor
proteins.